Melbourne Victory's chances of securing the A-League minor
premiership were dealt a major blow on Sunday when Perth Glory
recovered from a dreadful error from retiring goalkeeper Jason
Petkovic to snare a thrilling 3-2 win at a scorching Members Equity
Stadium.

Danny Allsopp got the Victory off to a flying start with a goal
in the third minute but two goals within the space of four minutes
to Eugene Dadi and Nikita Rukavytsya gave the Glory a 2-1 lead at
half-time.

But it all came unstuck for Petkovic in the 47th minute when the
35-year-old, playing his farewell match after a sparkling career,
fumbled a regulation take to allow substitute Ney Fabiano the
easiest of tap-ins.

However, there was one more twist to the tale as Dadi, back in
the starting XI after being rested last week, notched the winner in
the 76th minute to end the Victory's three-game winning streak.

In another blow to the Victory, defender Matthew Kemp was red
carded in the dying minutes for his second bookable offence and
will miss next week's clash with Central Coast.

The loss leaves Melbourne one point adrift of ladder-leaders
Adelaide, who have a superior goal difference and a game in hand on
the Victory.

Allsopp got Melbourne off to a dream start when he latched on to
a perfectly-weighted chip from Archie Thompson to drill home the
opener.

Glory defender Scott Neville threw his body on the line to block
Nick Ward's close-range shot in the 10th minute while only the
upright denied Allsopp from adding a second five minutes later.

But the Glory were back on level terms in the 32nd minute when
Dadi sent a thundering header into the bottom right hand corner of
the net after rising high to meet Adriano Pellegrino's cross.

Dutch recruit Victor Sikora set up Perth's second when he
stripped Melbourne defender Rodrigo Vargas of the ball and released
Rukavytsya into the box with only the keeper to beat.

The 21-year-old, who jets off to the Netherlands on Monday for a
trial with Dutch first division side FC Twente, made no mistake
with the finish to the jubilation of the 9,381 crowd.

But the celebrations turned to despair two minutes after
half-time when Petkovic dropped a simple take from Billy Celeski's
free kick, allowing Fabiano a tap-in from point-blank range.

Petkovic made partial amends with a terrific one-handed save in
the 71st minute and the Glory were roaring once more when Dadi
threw his body forward and stuck out his right leg to guide home
Naum Sekulovski's free kick.